FORT KNOX, Ky. — With 109,000 acres of land to keep track of, the job of a Fort Knox conservation law enforcement officer, or game warden, goes far beyond simply checking permits during hunting and fishing seasons.
Though the main mission for conservation officers is to protect and maintain natural and cultural resources on the installation, they also serve as primary law enforcement emergency responders, responding to lost or injured hikers, traffic accidents and criminal activity.
“We do a lot more than just policing of the opossum,” said Lt. Keith Beshears, a Conservation Law Enforcement Division officer under Fort Knox’s Directorate of Emergency Services. “A couple of years ago, we rescued a hunter who had a medical emergency up in a tree and was unable to climb down.”
To accomplish their wide-ranging mission, the game wardens maintain a healthy working relationship with members from the Environmental Division Hunt Control Office, range control and various state and federal agencies.
“It is imperative we maintain an active presence in the field to act as a deterrent and to educate the public,” said Beshears. “By being present and establishing rapport with the community, it enables us to get the community involved and partner in the safeguarding of our resources.”
According to Beshears, the installation has a lot of historical sites that partly fall on the installation game wardens to protect; some of which are located within high impact training areas. He said these can be especially important to monitor as individuals sometimes attempt to illegally disturb cultural historic sites.
“There are some historical spots [here],” he said. “Daniel Boone, Squire Boone, some others, originally explored all this area and opened it up shortly after the Revolutionary War. Some of the cemeteries contain Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers.”
There are other historic family members buried within the boundaries of post as well. Abraham Lincoln’s grandmother and aunt, and members of the Boone and Wright families are buried here, in addition to Native American archaeological sites that dwell on the land.
Monitoring these locations is one more duty the game wardens perform within their mission’s parameters – what they call site preservation.
Equipped with five ATVs, two side-by-sides and a boat, the game wardens spend a lot of time patrolling the installation ranges for unauthorized persons, lost hikers or injured individuals and environmental missteps.
“We look for if there are [units within the ranges] damaging the environment at all — oil spills, stuff like that,” said Beshears. “[If so,] we immediately report environmental mishaps with the units to EMD and range persons to investigate and begin clean up.”
They are also concerned with the protection of endangered species and general wildlife health.
“There are endangered species of bats on the installation, so we get a lot of bat calls during the [Cadet Summer Training] summers,” said Beshears. “We get the call and try to catch the bats as gently as we can and release them back into their natural habitat.”
In addition, they work with the Natural Resources Branch to monitor the deer and turkey populations throughout the year.
As the seasons change one way the installation keeps the deer population healthy is the quota gun hunt that typically falls in November or December. When archers don’t harvest enough deer during the season, the Hunt Control Office will host a special hunt for as many as 1,500 hunters to help thin the herd, which prevents overpopulation and disease for the fall deer season. The game wardens support this initiative by enforcing game laws and ensuring that hunters are being safety conscience.
An advantage to hunting on the installation is the double-down allowance.
Where Kentucky state laws have limits for each season, Kentucky allows for Fort Knox to have its own regulatory limits separate from that of state harvesting limits. For instance, if a hunter reaches their quota for the season outside of the installation but have clearance to also hunt within the boundaries, they can buy more tags and essentially double their quota.
Another benefit of the quota gun hunt can be the surplus of meat. For those who have more than enough meat or enjoy hunting, but don’t like the taste of game meat, there are programs within the community that allow meat donations. This is another good way for people to enjoy a sport they love, while also helping their community.
“That's how they fill their freezer for the winter to feed their family,” said Beshears. “We also have people that donate the food to homeless shelters and soup kitchens.”
Currently, squirrel is in season until June 21, and fishing season is in full swing.
“It's big fishing season right now, so we patrol the lakes looking to make sure everyone's got the licenses they need,” said the game warden. “We’re looking for safety. We can do boat inspections, make sure they've got those life jackets – all that safety stuff.”
The biggest issues they face during the hunting and fishing seasons are missing permits and small guideline missteps, so Beshears recommends hunters or anglers print off guidelines and pack them for reference.
To hunt or fish within the allotted areas on post, individuals must hold both valid state and installation permits, which can be found on the ISportsman website. The only exception to this rule is at Camp Carlson Lake, which only requires a Kentucky state fishing license.
At the site, all need-to-know information on hunting and fishing guidelines and the specifics for each season are available. They can also utilize the site to get information on how to register your firearms and download interactive map PDFs that will show them exactly where they can and cannot fish, hunt or scout.
Beshears said that the money from purchasing permits through the ISportsman site also helps maintain wildlife habitats and populations on the installation. When it came to construction of Castle Lake by the 19th Engineer Battalion, money from the permits went into landscaping and the funding of site studies and environmental research.
“That new lake they [19th ENG BAT] built [Castle Lake] – people’s fishing money went into buying the fish for that and paying for the labor,” he said.
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Editor’s Note: Hunt and fish game wardens are asking personnel and visitors to watch for fawns while driving around Fort Knox right now. Those who see a fawn are being asked to not interact with or touch it. Oftentimes, the mother is grazing within the area, and she will abandon the baby if there is a human scent on it.
To obtain a hunting or fishing permit for the installation, visit the Fort Knox ISportsman page at https://ftknox.isportsman.net/.
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